


the cornered saboteur

by rrosebudd



Series: Adelaide Fahey: Sole Survivor [3]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, and for maxson getting angry sdkfjs, and it goes dicks up from there, it's a slight modification, so that lets u know what kind of story this is, sole is still on good terms with the brotherhood by the time she is sent to attack the Prdywen, this story is titled Maxson angery boy in my docs, tw for nosebleed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 13:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15244737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rrosebudd/pseuds/rrosebudd
Summary: Through meticulous planning, Sole Survivor Addy Fahey manages to keep her relationship with the Brotherhood intact up until the Railroad instructs her to set up explosives along the Prdywen and bring the airship down. However, as she weaves her way through her plan among soldiers who trust her but shouldn't, it appears Maxson has caught word of her double-crossing. He interrogates her, and as the truth comes out along with his rage, her plan comes crumbling down around her.





	the cornered saboteur

Two things Addy noticed since climbing aboard the Prydwen this morning: A) she hated this place, and wished she’d realized that sooner, and B) backpacks are incredibly heavy with bombs inside them. She had blueprints stowed away that depicted an intricate layout of their placement, but she knew this dumb metal bird well enough that she was sure she didn’t need them. 

The mission was simple, really, so her heart shouldn’t be racing as fast as it was, but she couldn’t really help it. Maybe it was the prospect of being caught, or perhaps the idea that she was about to kill hundreds, maybe thousands of people, many of whom she had talked to before and even liked, many of whom didn’t deserve this. 

The sole survivor shook her head to dispel the thought as she walked down the hall of the Prydwen’s main deck. It absolutely did not help her conscience that several soldiers that passed by her would give her a salute or a nod or a smile or a “good morning”. But she kept walking, her vision straight ahead of her. 

It had been a while since she’d been up here, and since then, Addy had already been the cause of death for many of these Brotherhood soldiers at Mass Fusion a mere couple days ago with her secret orchestration of the attack. She had remained in the shadows since then, somehow keeping her loyalties between the factions intact, if just by a thread, in this case. 

But she knew this moment was where at least one of the loyalties ended, as her relationship with the Brotherhood of Steel was scheduled to go up in flames in approximately thirty minutes. That didn’t exactly deter her, however. Never did care for racists. 

Her conviction was whole, mostly, and she was able to talk some of her confidence back up as she reached a metal stairway that lead up to the top of the main hangar. She looked up at the large catwalk above her and bit back a nostalgic sigh before marching upwards. 

Addy had gone up exactly eleven steps (she was counting; it kept her anxiety down) before a voice stopped her in her tracks. Before now, she had assumed she was doing a wonderful job of blending in with the other soldiers around her, save for the large backpack loaded with weapons that lay across her back, but beside that. But the announcement that came over the loudspeaker suddenly split through the otherwise quiet air of the mess hall below the staircase, and caused her to trip over herself and catch her weight on the metal railing. 

_ “Paladin Fahey, please report to Elder Maxson on the command deck immediately.”  _

Fuck. Shit. Addy kept walking. She tucked her thumbs under the straps on her shoulders and broke into a jog up the stairs. There was absolutely no way she had time for that, and she straight up did not want to do so, for that matter. Fuck that guy. 

She reached the steel catwalk that ran across the Prydwen’s ceiling and took a minute or so to collect her bearings as she looked both left and right at the metal that stretched from one side of the aircraft to the other. She might need to look at those blueprints after all. 

She picked a direction and began walking again, her breath slowing back to its original pace. There were rarely people up here, luckily, aside from Scribes sent for repair, so she was able to begin work in peace. 

Or maybe not, as she heard the goddamn speaker go off again, bellowing from the main deck underneath her. 

_ “Paladin Fahey,” _ the deep voice came a second time,  _ “report to Elder Maxson at once.”  _

Not even a please this time, she scoffed. And he had barely given her three minutes before making another announcement. That really wasn’t a great sign. She picked up the pace. 

She skipped down the catwalk and paused in front of what looked like a vent along the wall. She sighed, relieved.  _ There we go.  _

Addy smiled with a confident nod, pushing away all the anxiety in her mind. She had to do this for the Railroad; it was necessary if she wanted them to succeed. She dropped the backpack off of her shoulders and placed it down on the ground, kneeling in front of it and unzipping the main  compartment. 

Looking inside was a little difficult to muster the strength to do, as she saw the half dozen explosive charges stacked neatly inside, along with rolled up paper and other odds and ends: caps, stimpaks, chems, the works. She reached carefully into the bag, wrapping her fingers cautiously around one of the bombs, and she was about to pull it out and attach it to the wall, when she was cut off a third and just as agonizing time. 

“Hey there, Paladin!” An all-too chipper voice came from behind her. Addy jumped and shoved the bomb back inside. She immediately zippered the bag shut, rocketing herself to her feet and standing against the wall. 

Her vision landed on a scribe, decked in the classic dark orange underclothes and baggy utility armor. He was wearing a hat that shielded his eyes, so she couldn’t exactly recognize him -- although she wasn’t sure she would anyway, even if she could see his whole face. He looked young, and excited to see her, which eased her nervousness a bit.

“Hi,” she saluted meekly to the young man. She kicked the backpack behind her. 

“Whatcha doin’ up here?” He squinted as he glanced down either end of the long hallway. 

“I…” she began, shifting on her feet. 

“And weren’t you just called down to the command deck?” He raised an eyebrow, but it was an innocent question. 

Addy nodded slowly, mouth open as she tried to form a response. “...Yes, I was… just heading there now.” She plastered a smile onto her face. 

“Gotcha,” the Scribe grinned with an affirmative nod, “You know, it’s not really safe up here, you sh-”

“Paladin Fahey!” A lower, more authoritative voice boomed from the direction of the staircase.

“Jesus Christ,” she mumbled under her breath. She wasn’t getting anywhere at all with this.

The metal clanking of power armor on steel steps sounded as a Knight made his way up to the catwalk. Addy had to stop herself from groaning in exasperation. She forced another feigned smile on her lips as the Knight approached with a classic Brotherhood salute. “Paladin!” 

“Yeah, I’m here, what’s up?” She huffed, realizing there was probably too much irritation in her voice to go unnoticed. 

She couldn’t see the Knight’s face from behind his helmet, but he definitely sounded unamused. “I’ve been sent to retrieve you for the Elder.” He cleared his throat, his voice fuzzy from the helmet’s speakers. “He needs to see you right away, as it is of an urgent matter.”

“Fantastic,” Addy grumbled. She sighed, bending down to pick up her backpack and slinging it back over her shoulders. “Look, I appreciate the telegram, but can you tell Maxson I really don’t have the time right now, I gotta d-”

Her sentence was interrupted by the Knight reaching for his rifle and tossing it into his grip, holding it firmly. He steadied it and aimed it directly for Addy’s chest, who stumbled back a ways in shock. 

“Whoa, hey! What the hell, what’d I do?!” She threw her hands up in front of her in a feeble surrender, looking between the Knight’s helmeted face and his laser weapon.

The Knight responded simply, with an unnerving amount of nonchalance. “I was instructed to use force if you were to refuse. Please, come with me.” He nodded curtly, “I do not want to have to hurt you.”

“Fuck, no kidding.” Addy breathed heavy as she straightened her posture, feeling the heaviness of the explosives on her back grow just a little more prominent. There was no way she could complete this mission successfully, not now, apparently. If she was given a  _ little  _ more time…

She grit her teeth and complied, beginning to walk back to the staircase, feeling the Knight’s eyes on her as the muzzle of the gun ghosted over the small of her back. From below the catwalk, Addy could see another Knight call up to the one adjacent to her, “You got her?”

“Yeah, all good.” The Knight next to her responded gruffly and tapped Addy’s backpack with the barrel of his gun. The sole survivor shot him a glare over her shoulder, but kept a steady pace forward down to the main deck, the weapon appearing to be an effective motive to keep her obedient. 

Addy mentally kicked herself so many times her brain risked bruising. This was the  _ worst  _ possible moment to see the Elder, and if she’d come, like,  _ one  _ day earlier, this could’ve been avoided. The fact the Maxson had bothered to send gun-wielding power-armored soldiers to escort her to him was really an unfortunate omen, and she knew something was up.

And she was soon to be proven correct, as she was ushered down the main deck’s hall and below to the command deck. Before she saw anything else, she saw two other Knights positioned on either side of the large windows that overlooked the Commonwealth, and lo and behold, the Elder with his back to her as he gazed out over the water, his hands tucked behind his back, one of them curled into a fist. 

He didn’t appear to hear her approach as the Knight tapped her with his gun one more time, despite her previous warning glares, and she walked into the small well-lit room with a sigh. 

“Do you ever move from that spot?” She spoke up with a feigned curiosity, “Or do you just, like, sleep standing up?” The back of her mind made a mental note that Deacon was definitely rubbing off on her. 

The Elder’s ears perked up the second he heard her voice and he slowly turned to face him. His face was already one that was definitely hiding rage, with his narrowing eyes and the vein on his forehead already threatening to make an appearance. “Fahey,” he said simply, although it was really more of a growl, and did a fine job of sending a jolt of fear directly down Addy’s spine. 

“You rang?” She tilted her head and folded her arms across her chest, pulling a tight-lipped, customer-service, cashier-dealing-with-an-absolute-dipshit type smile and hiding any evident nervousness that might have shown in her face.

“Several times, actually,” his jaw was clenched and his voice came through his teeth along with the sound of his simmering anger. He straightened his back, squaring his shoulders to make himself look bigger -- although he truly didn’t have to, as he already had a good half-foot on Addy’s height. 

He continued, his voice a stern grunt, “When I request your presence, Paladin,” he shot her an icy glare, “I expect you to report  _ immediately _ , do you understand?” 

Addy grumbled and had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, “I was busy.” 

Maxson scowled, his upper lip raising in his distaste. “I’m sure. I should expect nothing less from someone with such… frail allegiances.” He chose his words carefully as he looked her over, and something about his phrasing made her stomach churn. What did he know? 

“Sorry?” She raised a brow, swallowing around a lump forming in her throat. She hadn’t let anything slip to this man, and she was sure of it. Had she?

The Elder cleared his throat, ignoring her question altogether. “I assume you know why I’ve called you here.” He nodded to her with his cold blue eyes, and she averted her gaze.

“No,” she responded flatly. That was only half-true. She was probably here to answer for one of her wrongdoings to the Brotherhood in the past couple weeks, but there were so many, that she didn’t know which he was about to bring up. Hopefully, she prayed to herself, a small one, like… accidently throwing her water bottle in the trash can instead of recycling, or something.

Maxson glowered at her, taking a step forward, and as much as Addy wanted to turn and bolt, she held her ground, staring up at the Elder with her anxiety holding a vice grip on her gut. “I admire your attempt to act innocent, Fahey,” his gaze was piercing, “but the lies stop right here.” 

Addy swallowed. “I-I honestly don’t kn-”

“Several weeks ago,” Maxson cut her off and stepped away, spinning on his heel and beginning to pace in front of the windows, “Lancer-Captain Kells entrusted  _ you _ ,” he paused and pointed a finger in her direction before pacing again, “with a mission of top priority. Do you recall what that mission was?”

Oh,  _ this _ wrongdoing. Yeah, yup, that tracked. Of course Addy remembered: it was a dumb mission that she deliberately did not fucking do. Kells had ordered her to wipe out the entirety of the Railroad and their leaders, and Addy said she’d do it, of course, to stay on good terms with the good ol’ Bee Oh Es. But it was such a ridiculous thought that she hadn’t even considered it, and instead informed Dez and Deacon and Glory and Carrington and Tom and everyone she could, and eventually laughed about it over a drink with them, and that was that.

They were safe, just as she had ensured they would be. However, their safety was absolutely not the intention of the furious Elder now standing in front of her. She didn’t respond, her nervousness growing steadily into a very real fear. 

Maxson stepped toward her again, making her skin crawl. “Respond when you are spoken to, Paladin.” His voice was a steady growl. 

Addy tensed the muscles in her jaw. “Yes,” she confirmed, raising her chin to potentially boost her own confidence and seem at least somewhat unwavered by his reprimanding. God, she was an entire eleven years older than this man, and he still scared her half to death. It was likely the notion of their difference in size, and the fact he had much more power in this situation than she, a fact he seemed to remind her of with each passing second. 

“You’re aware, then,” Maxson continued, refusing to take his eyes off of hers, “that your job was to stage an assault on the Railroad’s headquarters and dispose of their leaders, thus destroying their organization?”

Addy stared directly to the left of Maxson, not for a moment daring to make eye contact with the beast of a man rounding on her. She bit onto her lips, quiet for a moment before noticing the expectant silence coming from the Elder, and she muttered another, “Yes.”

The hulking man exhaled tensely, as though trying to dispel of his anger, but it clearly wasn’t working. “What puzzles me, Paladin,” he spat, “is that…” he huffed again, his mind almost audibly working to keep his fury at bay, “you informed Kells that you had, in fact, destroyed the Railroad, on your own accord. Is that correct?” 

He looked to her expectantly again, and she blinked, looking anywhere but at him. Her apparent anxiety didn’t help her case in the slightest, but it seemed to her that she had already lost. Her back hurt. She was in deep. “Yes.” Her voice was a whisper. 

“And yet,” Maxson’s gaze continued to bore into her as she refused to meet it, “I have gathered intel from Scribes out in the field, who have reported to me that the Railroad is, apparently, still very much in operation, and doing quite well.” He sounded almost frighteningly casual, as though not quite ready to unleash his full wrath, but the underlying irritation in his voice scared her more than anything. 

She grit her teeth and looked down. When she didn’t respond, he continued gruffly. “Would you care to explain yourself, Paladin, as to the reason you were not only unable to complete this task, but also as to why you felt it necessary to  _ lie _ ?!” His voice suddenly jumped up in volume and he stepped towards her menacingly. 

And just on time, there was the rage. She took a step back, making the mistake of meeting his furious eyes with her own terrified ones, and she saw her fate inside them. It wasn’t good. She swallowed a lump in her throat, her hands suddenly shaking. 

She stuttered the beginning of a defense, “I-I didn’t mean-”

“Didn’t mean  _ what _ , Paladin?” He was shouting now, his voice booming off the walls of the deck. “Didn’t mean to  _ deliberately  _ ignore direct orders and then  _ lie _ to your superiors about it?!” His hands were curled into large fists. “Tell me, Paladin, are you some kind of double agent, a traitor?!” 

Addy shook her head rapidly. “What? No!” Yes. She was. But this was the absolute worst way for him to find out. 

He grimaced down at her, his face closer to hers than Addy would’ve liked. “First, you refuse orders to kill Danse, then fail to recruit Dr. Li, and now this!” He threw his arms up in an exasperation before pointing an accusatory finger at her chest. 

“If your intention is to continually disobey me and my men, what business do you even have here?” He spat, looking her up and down as though examining her. 

She felt incredibly small, the man practically towering over her. She shrunk back, and her hands went to the straps of her bag instinctively. She gripped onto the fabric in her fear and didn’t take her eyes off of Maxson’s angry face. 

She suddenly regretted her decision to move at all, for the second she even indicated she had anything out of the ordinary, his gaze flickered to the pack on her shoulders, then back up to her eyes. His own eyes narrowed. “Why are you  _ here  _ right now?” 

Addy dropped her hands quickly, a bit too quickly, her ability to stay inconspicuous failing, and fast. “I-I…” she looked around, trying to find an excuse. 

It was true that she had not climbed aboard the Prydwen today for any official Brotherhood business, but rather, complete sabotage. Her vision landed on the Knights on either side of the room, having forgotten they were there at all, and she wondered why the hell they weren’t helping her. “I-I’m just… I’m stopping by, is all, I…” 

“What’s in the bag, Fahey,” Maxson’s voice was flat and unamused. He didn’t even make it sound like a question, but rather a statement, as though he already knew. 

Her throat went dry. She was in so much fucking trouble. 

“Nothing,” she said simply, and too fast. 

“Fahey.”

“Nothing!” She said again, firmer, her teeth clenched. 

Maxson glared at her through steely cold eyes. He sighed, as though disappointed. “I know you’re hiding something, Paladin,” his nostrils flared, his breathing attempting to steady itself. “It is up to you how easy this is.” 

“I’m not,” Addy spoke in defense again, her eyes threatening to brim with tears. 

The Elder exhaled again, audible in his frustration. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t make me ask you again.” His tone was gruff and controlled, with his familiar bubbling fury fighting to break through. 

“Elder, I-I swear, I-” Addy shook her head as she began to stammer. She was growing more helpless by the second. 

“I don’t want your excuses!” He barked, his upper lip curled and his teeth bared like a feral dog. “I need an answer, Paladin, what are you hiding?!” 

Addy shook her head again, her feet bolted to the floor. She opened her mouth to respond, but the only thing that escaped her mouth were cut-off noises as she attempted to form sentences. 

And her silence was what set him off, apparently. For before she could string any words together that could even begin to resemble an excuse, she felt large hands clamp around her upper arms, and she was suddenly spun around. 

She staggered with a strangled yelp, and she expected pain that never came, as she was forced to turn away from him. She instead felt the Elder grip onto her packback and yank it off her shoulders, and her stomach jumped right into her throat.  

One of the straps was easily tugged off her arm, but as her brain finally decided to kick in, she spun herself back around and gripped onto the remaining strap that was quickly being pulled off of her. She held to it fast as the bag was jerked forward, and she stumbled, finding herself locked in a tug-of-war with the Elder. 

She looked down at the strap in her hands with wide eyes, then back up to his infuriated face. She was really still fighting this, huh? 

“Let go, Adelaide.” He spoke firmly, his teeth grit. He tugged his end of the bag, the jostle accompanied by the horrible sound of the explosives inside clattering together.

Breaking out the full first name, apparently. Low blow. Her hands were trembling and her knuckles paled as she gripped to the fabric. “No,” her voice shook. She knew he was far stronger than her, and her refusal to give in was certainly not helping her case, but she also knew that one look inside that bag and she was absolutely done for. 

A deep growl came from his chest and he sneered. This was not a game he was willing to play. He again wrenched the bag towards him in his attempt to wrestle it away from her. Her feet skidded along the floor as she failed to keep them planted. 

“I  _ said _ ,” his tone was sharp and furious. Another yank from the strap and she tumbled forward into him. “Let  _ go _ !”

This time she did feel pain. She shut her eyes tight just before she saw an elbow about to collide with her face. She couldn’t cry out save for a shocked gasp as she heard a sickening crunch from somewhere, and before she knew it, she had crumpled to the ground, thrown to the side by the impact. 

She blinked her eyes open as she struggled to push herself back up to a sitting position. A white-hot pain clouded the forefront of her brain, and her hand instinctively went to her nose, and upon touching it, found the source. 

The back of her mouth tasted like blood, and as she pulled her hand away from her nose, she could see why, as her fingers were tinted scarlet and she could already feel the wetness begin to drip down to her lips and chin. Great. 

She looked up to see Maxson staring down at her pathetic form on the ground, and as she saw a flash of fear behind his cold eyes, she wondered for a moment just how intentional the attack was. He shook his head as though dismissing a thought and instead focused on the bag he now held triumphantly in his hands. 

He ground his teeth in his jaw as he unzipped the bag, flashing a glance to Addy through narrowed eyes, before tipping it upside down and letting the contents spill onto the metal floor 

The small bombs hit the ground, each with similar clangs as they did so, accompanied by the medicine and blueprints to the airship. Addy watched as the supplies fell, a blank expression on her face, almost one of exhaustion. 

Maxson looked around at the explosives on the floor, his own face unreadable. She could only imagine what was going through his head right now. He took the empty backpack and chucked it back at Addy on the floor. It landed in front of her as she made no effort to catch it, with one hand propping her up and the other stained in her blood. 

It was silent for a while. Addy didn’t bother to try and defend herself. Or even try to stand up, for that matter, for she was frozen in her shame. Maxson quietly examined her, his mind working on something she couldn’t see. After a while, he spoke. 

“Take her down to the police station. Lock her up until we can decide what to do with her,” he ran a hand over his face as his anger was quelled into another emotion that was unknowable to her. 

The Knights on either side of the room, as still as statues up until this moment, each came to life and casually strode over to Addy. She would’ve struggled, but what would’ve been the point? She might as well willingly put herself on the execution block at this point. 

She flinched as metal hands clamped down around her arms and wrists and she was unceremoniously hoisted to her feet. She met the Elder’s eyes a last time, and expected… something. A lecture? A goodbye? A gunshot to the fucking head? Who knows. 

But she was given no such closure of any kind, and she was led out of the room, half-dragged along by the Knights on either side of her. She felt as though her legs might’ve given way without the assistance from the soldiers holding her up. She was escorted, humiliatingly enough, all the way down to the station: off the Prydwen, along the vertibird ride, and over to the crude cells the Brotherhood provided for their occasional troublemakers.

Although, she doubted there were few troublemakers that matched up to her reason for incarceration, as not many had planned to blow up the goddamn Prydwen in the past, she was pretty sure. She might be setting a record there. 

She was in a daze as she passed soldiers who regarded her with a range of emotions, from confused, to shocked, to smug. It wasn’t every day they saw a highly esteemed officer in their ranks being detained against her will. 

They eventually arrived in front of the makeshift jail, and the rusted door was pulled open and she was ushered inside with a push at her back. A bit roughly for her taste, but she couldn’t exactly blame them. She turned around to watch the metal bars slide closed in front of her face. 

The Knights did not address her and instead both turned in synchronization to march away, pausing to instruct another set of soldiers something. Probably to keep watch. 

She stood there for a moment, before numbly making her way over to the small cot provided. She sat down, and leaned over to rest her head in her hands. 

She listened to the bustle of business as usual outside the cell, and soon felt tears begin to roll off her cheeks and mix with the blood smeared along her face.  _ Good god, _ she thought to herself. Her lungs were tight as her absolute defeat sunk in.  _ What had she done?  _

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this on a 13 hour flight to japan and i have No intention of continuing it but i might someday who knows!!! i just Love writing angery boi maxson it.... is so good sdfkjls merci for reading


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